"Crises affect all companies, not just poorly managed ones".he warned Yago de la Ciervaprofessor of Corporate Communication and Crisis Management at IESE Business School, during his speech at the Proa Observatory, held at Degussa's head office. Professor De la Cierva spoke on 'How to apologise after a mistake: examples of corporate apologia' and did so in a very didactic way, explaining his premises through several relatively recent cases.
He compared crisis communication to a pitcher of milk that breaks and shatters, "there is no way to recover either the milk or the pitcher", but "post-crisis management is always possible".. In his opinion, what we must try to do is to prevent and know how to ask for forgiveness, "which is very difficult for us, because by asking for forgiveness we show our weakness and give targets to the enemy, but it is the only way to overcome a problem".
But how do you ask for forgiveness? Professor De la Cierva put forward three scenarios: if I am responsible, I apologise immediately; if I am innocent, I defend myself; if I do not know if I am responsible, I open an investigation. The reason for doing so is "because we have a duty to protect our organisations".. Furthermore, he pointed out that we have to bear in mind that we will be judged not according to the law, but according to ethics, "the law is one of the least important things in crisis management".
Using real examples, such as the mistakes made in the Weinstein Harvey and Kevin Spacey sexual abuse cases, he recommended showing sincere and brief pain, as well as solidarity with those who have been offended. The crisis suffered by Amazon due to the sale of two books to which it had no rights served to add that, in addition to the above advice, you should always offer something. And the incident of a Starbucks employee who caused the arrest of two black people in one of its premises because they were considered suspicious served as an example to recommend that CEOs should be the ones to stand up to public opinion, take the lead and not only apologise, but also communicate the measures they are going to take to try to prevent similar mistakes from occurring, but not only them, but also any employee, "No company can say it won't happen again, all risks are never eliminated"..
One of the things he found most effective in a crisis is to act fast, as L'Oreal did after hiring as a model a young Belgian national team fan who was made famous on television during the World Cup in Brazil. She turned out to be an experienced hunter with a significant photographic footprint on her social networks and the French company fired her quickly and swiftly. "With social media, companies are naked in the eyes of the public".said De la Cierva.
An episode provoked by the advertisement of an H&M sweatshirt with a message that in some countries outside Sweden was considered racist led him, firstly, to recommend that companies going international should hire people who know the local market and, secondly, that, apart from apologising briefly, they should connect with the principles they have offended, try to hit rock bottom as soon as possible and maintain unity in the spokespersonship.
During his speech, there was no shortage of humour either, such as that used by the American fast food company KFC to quell criticism when it closed its 900 restaurants in the UK because it ran out of chicken, the main ingredient in its culinary offerings. It saved the situation with a creative campaign in which it apologised by laughing at itself.
Professor De la Cierva's 'commandments' for successful crisis communication can be summed up as followsThe following is the key: express sorrow, explain what has gone wrong, acknowledge responsibility, express regret, communicate your willingness to offer compensation, commit yourself to a recovery plan, and make yourself available. And this, while being aware at all times that "it is impossible to avoid having a crisis again, even if you are prudent". Nor should it be forgotten, the professor stressed, to have a protocol drawn up establishing how to apologise, "learning to do so is part of a healthy corporate culture".
The Proa Observatories are stable discussion forums with the participation of prominent executives, politicians and professionals. They are born with the vocation of being a laboratory of ideas where a genuine dialogue is fostered to debate current business issues, as well as corporate reputation, brand and public affairs as important elements for the improvement of companies.
Among the personalities who have participated in these meetings are the economist Manuel Conthe; the former Minister of Public Administrations Jordi Sevilla; the former Minister of Education, Culture and Sport José Ignacio Wert; the writer and priest Pablo D'Ors; the Director of External Communication of Deloitte, Antonio Belmonte; the Director of Communication and Institutional Relations of El Corte Inglés, José Luis González-Besada, the High Commissioner for Marca España, Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros, the writer and journalist Pilar Urbano, and the Director General of Información y Control de Publicaciones S.A. (OJD), Manuel Sala, among others.
